St Marys University Week 4 Learning from Top Speeches Discussion

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ORGANIZING
LOGICALLY
THINKING BEFORE WRITING
BY DR. JAN PREWITT
WHY OUTLINE
? Many people hate outlining and see it as something to
do AFTER writing only because the teacher requires
it.
? Outlines should actually be a way to bring order to the
chaos of information and ideas so that your audience
can follow your reasoning
? Outlining should be a writer?s tool and is especially
helpful to those who struggle with organization.
DEVELOPING A SKELETON
?
In writing, a skeleton is the most basic plan for an essay.
?
Think about what a literal skeleton does–the bones of
your body support all the other systems of the body.
Without your skeleton, you would be a puddle of soft
tissue.
?
So the skeleton of an essay is made up of key concepts
(as sentences) that organize and support your essay.
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FIRST STEPS
?
A skeleton consists of the thesis statement and main
ideas (reasons or arguments) in support of that thesis.
?
I ask that students write these supporting ideas in
complete sentences so that I can see their ideas more
clearly.
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SELECTING A TOPIC
?Consider the following when selecting a topic:
?
Which among the options in the assignment do you
already know something about?
?
Of those topics are there any that you feel passionate
about? The more you care about a topic, the more likely
you are to write well.
?
Too much passion, however, can interfere with the need
to rely on logic, reasoning and evidence, all key
components to effective writing.
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MOVING FROM TOPIC TO THESIS
?A topic is basically just a subject
?A thesis, however, is a statement ABOUT that topic.
DEVELOPING A THESIS
?
Word your thesis putting the main ideas in the main
parts of a sentence (subject/verb)
Consider this example:
Topic: the causes of student failure
Thesis: Poor pre-college preparation, a consumer attitude, and personal
distractions have caused an increase in the number of freshman drop
outs.
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IDENTIFYING MAIN IDEAS
? Once you have a thesis, you need to come up with
reasons (arguments) that support the thesis.
? These main ideas lead to the conclusive idea (your
thesis); these are the statements that you are
obligated to prove in the body of your paper.
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LEVEL 1?MAIN ARGUMENTS
?
For a basic argument, a Level 1 or skeleton outline,
you would come up with specific reasons for your
position.
?
As you consider your own topic, create your thesis
first and then ask yourself ?Why do I believe this??
?
The reasons (not facts or evidence) become your
argumentative claims.
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EXAMPLE LEVEL 1 OUTLINE
Thesis: Poor pre-college preparation, a consumer attitude,
and personal distractions have caused an increase in the
number of freshman drop outs.
I.
Poor pre-college preparation leaves freshmen with academic
deficits at a time when they need sharp skills.
II.
A consumer attitude prompts students to discount the importance
of their education, which leads to skipping class or inattention.
III.
Personal distractions, such as jobs, problems at home or substance
problems can hinder students from concentrating on their
academic work in and out of class.
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NEXT STEPS
? Once you have a skeleton, you are ready to do more
in-depth research.
? Each of the main points require specific, concrete
evidence.
? Knowing what you are looking for helps to give
research focus and saves time.
DEVELOPING THE MAIN POINTS
? To develop that outline more completely (and to help
organize your research), you want to develop the
Level 2 outline.
? Each main point needs to be developed more
specifically
? For each main point, create at least two sentences
that explain the main point more thoroughly.
LEVEL 2–EXPLANATION
? The A and B statements below explain more specifically what is
meant by the main argument.
I.
Poor pre-college preparation leaves freshmen with
academic deficits.
A.
Many college freshman have not been taught the rules of
their own language and, as a result, struggle with writing.
B.
Many college freshmen were not challenged in their high
school classes, and assuming that college will be the same
way, they are surprised at the amount of work and the
standard of work required of them in college.
DEVELOPING THE MAIN POINTS
II. A consumer attitude prompts students to discount the
importance of their education which leads to skipping class or
inattention.
A.
Poor attendance leads to poor grades.
B.
Inadequate concept mastery leads to poor grades.
DEVELOPING THE MAIN POINTS
III.
Personal distractions, such as jobs, problems at
home, or substance problems, can hinder students
from concentrating on their academic work, in and
out of class.
A.
B.
C.
More students today have to work to support
themselves at school, leaving them less time for
homework and study.
Personal struggles can arrest the students? attention,
leaving them unable to concentrate in or out of class.
Substance problems can leave students hung over or
mentally impaired in or out of class.
IS THAT ALL?
?Once you have an outline to this second level, it is very easy to fill in
with specific evidence.
?Specific evidence is essential to proving your claims (main ideas),
which, in turn, support your thesis.
?For each A and B, you will need to find specific evidence. This becomes
Level 3 of the outline.
LEVEL 3?EVIDENCE
? For every explanatory statement, find at least one
piece of hard evidence and one piece of soft evidence
for support.
? Types of hard evidence:
? Facts
? Statistics
? Study/survey results
DEVELOPING THROUGH EVIDENCE
? Types of Soft Evidence:
? Expert Opinion
? Example (short)
? Illustration (long)
? Having different types of evidence helps the audience
to believe your position.
? Better to have more evidence than you need than to
be short on evidence.
LEVEL 3 OUTLINING
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II.
A consumer attitude prompts students to discount the
importance of their education which leads to skipping class or
inattention.
A.
Poor attendance leads to poor grades.
1.
Studies show that students who do not participate in class
discussion have a more difficult time mastering course concepts
2.
Students who skip days in class frequently turn in assignments late
and lose points.
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LEVEL 3 OUTLINING
B.
Inadequate concept mastery leads to poor grades.
1.
When students do not understand the concepts of the
course, they do poorly on tests and other
assignments.
2.
The correlation between concept master and final
grades is very high
3.
Carol is a good example of a bright student who failed
to take her education seriously.
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APPLICATION
? As you apply these steps to your own topic, remember
that I will be looking for your outline to show all three
levels:
? I. Main reasons (claims) for the thesis
? A. Explanations for your claims
? 1. Evidence
? Make sure that all of your points are complete
sentences.
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Writing Introductions and
Conclusions
Purpose/Function of the Introduction
?
The primary function of the introduction is to prepare the audience for the
argument to come
?
The introduction moves the audience from what they are currently thinking
about (which could be anything!) to the topic that you are to discuss
?
The introduction provides a context for the argument
?
The introduction ends with the thesis
Opening Sentence
?
The opening sentence catches the attention of the audience
?
The opening sentence focuses on the topic of the essay
?
Sometimes a narrative?telling someone?s story which illustrates the
controversy?is a great way to do both things at the same time!
?
Another method is to use a famous saying that relates to the topic
Example opening for an essay on causes of student failure:
?Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in
school? (Albert Einstein).
Presenting the Controversy
?
Since an argument is about a specific controversy, the introduction
presents the two sides of that controversy.
?
This is often a good place to briefly (one or two sentences) present the
position opposed to your own thesis.
Example presentation of controversy:
Some people think that students fail in college because they do not have
sufficient skills or intelligence. In most cases, however, basic skills can be
quickly supplied, so the cause of failure lies elsewhere.
The Thesis
?
The thesis is your position statement on the controversy.
?
It is the last sentence of your introduction because ?last? is the power
position?the position which has the strongest impact.
?
Spend time making every word count, using specific nouns and action
verbs.
Weak versus Strong
?
Weak: Students drop out of college for a lot of reasons
?
Strong: Poor pre-college preparation, a consumer attitude, and personal
distractions have caused an increase in the number of freshman drop
outs.
The Conclusion
?
Many people just summarize in a conclusion, but that is boring and
ineffective in short papers.
?
The audience deserves more, and your ideas deserve more.
?
Take the time to make your conclusion your ?knock-out? punch.
Purpose/Function of the Conclusion
?
The primary function of the conclusion is to end the essay powerfully
?
The conclusion briefly reminds the audience of the important ideas without
repeating the main points of the essay.
?
The conclusion goes on to tell the audience why this topic/position is
important?it answers the ?so what? question.
Opening Sentence
?
The opening sentence re-presents the thesis but with different, more
emphatic words.
Example thesis: Poor pre-college preparation, a consumer attitude, and
personal distractions have caused an increase in the number of freshman
drop outs.
Example restatement for conclusion: Freshmen can improve their chances of
success by their preparation, their attitude, and their focus.
Presenting the Controversy
Example ?so what? answer:
Far more important than a student?s previous success in high school is his/her
determination to achieve the real goal of learning in order to excel in the
professional world. Doing away with the high-school thinking and approach
to ?getting by? and seeking to learn new skills and refine old skills will enable
students to succeed academically and professionally.

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